Valving apparatus



E. G. BAILEY ET AL May 27,1952

VALVING APPARATUS 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed June 14, 1946IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlllllllllllwl% III/IIIIIIIIIIIIIII FIG. 3

I \l I7 INVENTORS ERVIN e BAILEY, AND PAUL s DICKEY, y JACK F. SHANNON WW THEIR A ORNEY FIG. 4

May 27, 1952 Filed June 14, 1946 E- G. BAILEY ET AL VALVING APPARATUS 2SHEETS-SHEET 2 AND INVENTORS ERVIN s. BAILEY, PAUL s. DICKEY JACK F.SHANNdN THE ATTORNEY Patented May 27, 1952 UNITED orslcs Ervin G.Bailey, Easton,

East Cleveland,

Pa, and Paul S. Dickey, and Jack F. Shannon, Euclid,

Ohio, assignors to Bailey Meter Company, a

eorporation of Delaware Application June 14, 1946, Serial No. (576,742

7 Claims. 1

Our present invention relates to valving means tor shutting 01?" orregulating the flow of fluid or oi materials whosemovem'ent through aconduit, is similarin nature to the flow of a fluid. By fluids, ofcourse, we mean to include gases, vapors, liquids ormixtures thereof.Fluids are frequently used as carriers for pulverized or granularmaterial, such as pulverized coal, cement, flour or the like. Stillother materials, such as coal, ore, grain or the like are moved throughclosed conduits, usually by gravity, but the movement is analogous to afluid flow. It is to the valving of such flows or move ments that ourinvention is particularly directed,

While not limited thereto, our invention is particularly useful incontrolling the movement of; an abrasive granular material, such aspulverized coal or cement in suspension in a stream of carrier air. Wewill describe the invention as applied to the transportation ofpulverized coal 1n air.

When pulverized coal is moved through a condui-t bymeans of carrier air,there is a maxi mum proportion that can be held in suspension. The limitis imposed by particle size and density, as well as. velocity ofmovement. Beyond the limit the coal will settle out or drift. Suddenchange in velocity may cause the coal to drop out. Ledges, crevices orother irregularities of the flow path within the conduit will drop thecoal out of suspension. When this happens, then drifting or fil-ling upofirregularities occurs, which not only tends to reduce the crosssectionof the path, but may result in a nonuniiori feed of fuel to a burner.This is particularly true if the coal deposits out for awhile and thensuddenly the stream picks up and carries along a slug or accumulation ofnon-aerated coal. Particularly troublesome is the tortuous path throughany valve or regulating device known to date. Abrupt and radical changesin velocity or direction of flow through known al es. (e n. f de. n.)aus h a to drop out of; suspension and usually to fill up the passagesand perts of a valve so that it cannot hereafter be shu Qfl? Q o ed.-Fur the abrasive action of such material will very shortly cut the seatsof known valves so that th y will not lo ebfi t e terinbi the v lq i a sre m r pulveri whi en? er 1 -pp F? y an in ate. o o 511B 2 ply,maintaining the same air-coal ratio, means a lowering of velocity withresulting poor furnace conditions. No' valving means has been availablefor effectively decreasing the area of the burner pipe, and thusmaintaining desired velocity. To date the only possibility has been toincrease the air-to-coal ratio with consequent dilution of the mixture;or to place burners in or out of service. Neither of these procedures ismost desirable and precludes the use of automatic control. By means ofour invention the operation of such burners may be varied over aconsiderably wider range either by hand control or automatic control.

A particular object of our invention is to provide a valving means forshuttingv off or. regulating the flow. of a stream of pulverized coalcarried in suspension in air.

A further object is to provide a valving means having advantageousandnovel features in the control of the flow or movement of fluidsgeneral.- ly, and of materials which are moved through a confiningconduit.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of a portion of a conduit to which ourinvention has been applied.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view through the conduit of Fig. 1 along theline 2 in the direction of the arrow.

Fig. 3 illustrates the invention as applied to. a conduit in slightlydifferent construction than is shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a section of the conduit of Fig. 3 along the line 44 in thedirection of the arrows.

Fig. 5 illustrates our invention as applied in the curved section of aconduit. 4

Fig. 6 illustrates another embodiment of our invention. V

Fig. 7 in longitudinal section, and Fig. i} in cross-section, illustratethe application of an inflatable bag to control the velocity in arelatively long length conduit.

Figs. 9 and 10 are diagrammatio arrangements of pressure control systemsapplied to our invention.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2 we show there: in a preferred embodimentof our invention comprising an expansible bag I fastened within agenerally cylindrical conduit section 2. The bag I is of a generalrectangular shape when deflated and is preferably "of a resilient orelastic ai i a y iwh a r ibber s n h u ber or the like. It may be 'nforce'd with fabric and under certain operating conditions maybepreferably made of a material adapted to withstand wide variations inambient temperature. Certain of the synthetic rubbers are particularlyadapted for usage under elevated ambient temperature and against theabrasive action of pulverized coal or cement carried in suspension in astream of air.

The conduit section 2 is preferably cast or otherwise formed with anoffset portion 3 having an interior depression of substantially the sameshape and depth as the deflated bag I. In folding or forming the bag Iwe prefer to include stiffening or strengthening strips 4 of fabric orsimilar material. The bag I is held in place within the conduit section2 by means of clamping members 5 pulled down by screws 6 which arethreaded into the ofiset portion 3. When the deflated ba is properlyinstalled in the conduit section 2 it assumes the position shown inFigs. 1 and 2 wh erein there is substantially no obstruction or changein dimension of the circular interior of the conduit to distort in anyrespect the flow of fluid or material therethrough.

We show at 'I an ordinary automobile tire valve stem fastened in knownmanner to the bag I, projecting therethrough and through the conduitportion 3, to be held in place by the lock nut 8. The inner valveportion of the nipple I is preferably removed so that fluid pressure maybe applied or removed from the interior of the bag I at will. In Figs. 1and 2 we indicate by the dotline 9 the position which will be assumed bythe bag I when it is inflated to completely shut off the conduit 2.

Referring now to Figs. 3 and 4 we show therein the adaptation of ourinvention to an existing conduit 2A without the necessity of providing aspecially formed portion of the conduit 2, as at 3', previouslydescribed. The bag IA may be a length of ordinary automobile inner tubewith its ends normally open but clamped to the interior of the conduit2A by recessed clamping portions 5A. Such structure presents a slightirregularity within the inner passage of the conduit 2A when deflated,but has the advantage of eliminating the specially cast or otherwiseformed conduit portion 2, 3 and the specially molded inflatable ba I. Ofcourse these ideas are interchangeable. The inner tube section may beused in a shaped conduit, or the molded bag may be used in a regu- I larconduit.

In Figs. 3 and 4 we indicate at 9A a position assumed by the wall of thebag IA when inflated to shut ofi passage through the conduit; andindicate at I some intermediate position assumed by the wall of the bagIA under a partial inflation. It will be appreciated that the structurebeing described provides not only for a complete shutofi of the conduit2 or 2A, but also for a regulating of the flow or movement of materialthrough said conduit by partial inflation through control of fluidpressure applied to the interior of the inflatable member.

In Fig. we have illustrated in somewhat diagrammatic form how theinflatable valve member may be located in a curved section of conduit.In other words, it is not necessary that the containing conduit be astraight portion, and this provides the advantage of being able tolocate the valving member in locations which might otherwise berelatively inaccessible or in conduits not normally containing straightsections.

In Fig. 5 we indicate diagrammatically that the nozzle I may 'beconnected by a pipe II with a selector valve I2 having two positions. Inthe position shown the valve I2 connects the pipe II with a pipe I3joining a regulator I4 having a source I5 of fluid pressure such ascompressed air. In its alternate position the selector valve I2 connectsthe pipe II with a pipe I6 leading to atmosphere or to a source ofnegative pressure or suction.

Usually in a conduit carrying pulverized coal in air to a burner apressure of about 2 p. s. i. maximum exists during operation. Forregulating or shut off purposes the air applied to the nipple I forcompletely or partially inflating the inflatable member may be in therange of 5 to 10 p. s. i. Such air under pressure may be applied throughthe pipe I3 from a hand actuated regulator I I or the regulator I I maybe automatically positioned by known regulating instrumentalityresponsive to any desired variable. We desire to indicate that theelement I4 is a means for manual or automatic regulation of the pressureapplied to the interior of the inflatable element I to either completelyclose ofi the conduit or to variably restrict the flow or movement ofmaterial therethrough. It is readily appreciated that any ascertainablerelationship between pressure applied to the interior of the element Iand area restriction of the conduit is obtainable so that a regulationof the air pressure within the pipe I3 by agency I4 will result inpredictable restriction or variation in flow through the conduit.

If the pressure of the fluid or other material within the conduit isrelatively slight, then release of the pressure within the bag I toatmosphere may not be sufiicient action to completely retract themovable wall of the bag, and it may be desirable to apply a suction tothe interior of the bag for more positively collapsing the same. Thus weindicate that the selector valve I2 may be moved to connect the pipe I Iwith a pipe I6 either discharging to the atmosphere or connected to asource of negative pressure or suction.

While we have shown in connection with Fig. 5 the preferred arrangementfor inflating or deflating the member I we intend that such arrangementis equally applicable to the other figures of the drawing withoutcomplicating them by duplicating the showing in each.

Referring now to Fig. 6, we show therein a section of conduit I1 havingan inner shaped core member I8 supported in the chamber I! by a webmember I9 and forming with the chamber I! an annulus passage 20.Positioned in the annulus 20 is an inflatable bag 2| taking the generalform of a tire inner tube. In its deflated condition it assumes agenerally flat collapsed appearance hugging the inner wall of thechamber II which is the greatest periphery of the annulus 20. Preferablythe inflatable bag 2I may be cemented or otherwise held in positionagainst the inner wall of the chamber H by at least a line or narrowcontact strip so that it will retain its desired location in the annulus20 in a plane normal to the axis of flow through the chamber I1. Whencompletely inflated the bag will assume some such shape as is indicatedin dotted line at 22.

For proper combustion conditions within a furnace supplied withpulverized fuel in air suspension, it is desirable to have the air-coalmixture enter the furnace at a relatively constant velocity throughoutthe range of operation, as expressed in terms of B. t. u. supply rate.All known valving means which have been used in the conduits leading toindividual pulverized fuel burners to vary the cross-section thereoffall short of desired results because they have failed to regulate theeffective cross-sectional area throughout an appreciable length of theburner pipe immediately preceding the burner nozzle itself. In Figs. 7and 8 we have illustrated an arrangement for varying the effectivecross-sectional area of a relatively long conduit effective inmaintaining a relatively uniform velocity through said conduit for aselected range in weight rate of coal supplied at a relatively uniformair-coal ratio. This precludes the necesssity of diluting the air-coalmixture with a greater amount of air to maintain desired velocity at lowweight rates of coal supplied.

Referring to Fig. 7, we indicate at 23 a rela tively long conduit inwhich may be located throughout substantially its length an inflatablerubber or similar elastic member 24. Fig. 8 shows a section taken alQngthe line 8-8 of '7 and wherein the inflatable element 24 is shown asbeing a relatively long small diameter tube closed at the end andcapable of assuming an inflated cross-sectional area 25 when subjectedto internal fluid pressure. With such an ar-. rangement thecross-sectional area of a conduit 23 may be varied throughout aconsiderable distance, thus providing a controllable size conduit forcontrolling the velocity therethrough.

If appreciable variations in pressure are expected within a conduit inwhich is located an inflatable valve member, then it becomes desirableto take such pressure fluctuations into account in establishing thecontrol fluid pressure within the inflatable member. In Fig. 9 we show ahand regulable arrangement for applying a shutofl or throttlinginflation through the valve member, taking into account expectedvariations in pressure within the main conduit. Within a conduit section26 is located an inflatable valve member 2'? connected by a pipe 28 witha pressure regulator 29. The regulator 29 is supplied with compressedair from a commercial source, and the pressure available within theoutlet pipe 28 is regulated by a spring loading under the control of ahand wheel 30. Normally such a loading spring acts upon a diaphragm andthe spring chamber is open to the atmosphere. In the present instancethe spring chamber is closed against the atmosphere and to such chamberwe lead the pressure of the conduit 26 through a pipe 3| to the end thatVariations in pressure within the conduit 26 are effective along withthe spring loading upon the regulating or pressure reducing diaphragmstructure. lhus if the pressure within the conduit 26 increases theadditional pressure acting through the pipe 3| upon the diaphragm of theregulator 29 works in a direction to increase the fluid pressure withinthe pipe 28 proportionately so that there results a tendency for themember 21 to retain its relative expansion irrespective of pressurefluctuations within the conduit 26.

Positioned within the pipe 28 is a small bleed to atmosphere 32, as wellas a 3-way valve 33; the latter providing hand means for deflating thebag 27 through bleeding the pipe 23 to atmosphere.

In Fig. 19 we illustrate a somewhat similar arrangement, not limitedhowever to manual control, but applicable to complete automatic controlof the degree of inflation of the bag member 27 from a remotecontroller. In this arrangement we show an averaging relay 34 havingfluid pressure chambers A, B, C and D. Chambers A and B are separated bya flexible diaphragm, as are chambers C and D in similar manner.

Chamber B and Q re nerated by a solid para tition. A spring loaded stemjoins the diae phragms so that the movement of said stem is a resultantof the spring loading with the pressures available in the four chambersmentioned.

A fluid loading pressure, from the controller, is applied through a pipe35 to the chamber A. Pressure from within the conduit 26 is appliedthrough the pipe 36 to the chamber C. The inflatable bag 21 is connectedby a pipe 31 to chamber D. to. which chamber is also connected a sourceof air under relatively higher pressure and a bleed to the atmosphere.Valve struc-. ture within the chamber D controls the relative opening ofthe admission and bleed valves, and thereby pressure within the chamberD, under the control of the stem previously mentioned.

It will be, apparent that the positioning of said stem is dependent uponthe resultant between the spring loading, the fluid pressure in chamberA, and the fluid pressure admitted to chamber C. For any given loadingpressure available in the pipe 35 the pressure within the pipe 31 willvary in accordance with fluctuations in pressure within th pipe 35 tocompensate for such fluctuations. Inasmuch as the loading pressureavailable through the pipe 35 is under the control of a controller itwill be seen that the resulting valv ng inflation of the member 21,remotely dictated by the loading pressure in pipe 35, is not ailfectedby fluctuations in pressure within the conduit 26. This irrespective ofwhether the member 21 is inflated to a'regulating intermediate conditionor to a full shutoff condition.

From the above description it will be seen that our invention is equallyadaptable to the shutoff or regulating valving of'fluids in gaseous,liquid or mixture form of abrasive or similar materials,

such as pulverized coal or cement carried in air suspension, or of anymaterial passed through a clOSQd conduit in a manner similar to the flowoi. a fluid therethrough. Among the advantageous features provided byour invention maybe mentioned the following:

1. A complete separation of the flowing fluid or material from thecontrol pipe or mechanism to prevent corrosion, chemical attack,clogging, etc,

2. Remote manual or automatic throttling or shutoif regulation of fluidsor materials moving through a closed conduit without afiecting thestream line flow therethrough.

3. Maintain desired velocity conditions of flow of air-borne pulverizedcoal to a burner nozzle over a wide range in weight rate of coal supplywithout the necessity of further air dilution or change in the air-coalratio.

4. A valving arrangement readily adaptable to existing conduits withoutthe necessity of there being straight runs of conduit, special pipingprovisions, etc. No flanged joints are needed for insertion.

5. For valving pulverized coal or similar abrasive materials carried inair suspension; there being no obstructions or radical changes indirection of flow present, as in known valves which presentobstructions, ledges and the like, causing the carried materials to fallout of suspension and being extremely susceptible to wear.

6. Remote manual or automatic valving means for fluids and materialspassing through a closed conduit without regard to abrasive, chemical,physical or other qualities of the fluids or materials.

It will be appreciated that we have illustrated and described onlypreferred embodiments of our invention, and this disclosure is not to beinterpreted in a limiting manner.

What we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States, is:

1. A device for regulating the flow of fluid through a conduitcomprising, in combination, a recess formed in the inner Wall of saidconduit and extending around a portion only of its periphery, anexpansible member received in said recess and normally filling thelatter flush with the wall of said conduit, means for clamping saidmember along opposite edges in said recess, said member cooperating withthe walls of said conduit opposite said recess during expansion torestrict or out ofi completely the flow of fluid through the latter, andmeans for supplying or venting pressure fluid relative to the interiorof said expansible member.

2. A device for regulating the flow of fluid through a conduitcomprising, in combination, a recess formed in the inner wall of saidconduit and extending around a portion only of its periphery, a tubularshaped member of flexibl material received in said recess and normallyfilling the latter, means for clamping the ends of said member in saidrecess, said member cooperating with the walls of said conduit oppositesaid recess during expansion to restrict or cut oif completely the flowoi fluid through the latter, and means operable selectively forsupplying or exhausting pressur fluid relative to the interior of saidexpansible member.

3. A device for regulating the flow of fluid through a pipe comprising,in combination, a recess formed in the inner wall of the pipe andextending around substantially one-half of its in- 4. A device forregulating the flow of fluid through a pipe comprising, in combination,an enclosed member of flexible material received within said pipe, meansfor clamping said member to substantially one-half the periphery of theinner 'wall of said pipe, said member flexing on the supply of pressurefluid thereto and cooperating with the walls of the remaining half ofthe pener periphery, a closed member of flexibl mat riphery of said pipefor restricting or cutting off the flow of fluid through the pipe, andmeans for conducting pressure fluid relative to said flexible member.

5. The combination of claim 4 including means for compensating thepressure fluid for variations in pressure within the pipe.

6. The combination of claim 4 including pressure balancing means, asource of relatively high pressure fluid for the balancing means, aconnection applying pipe pressure to the balancing means, and sprinloading means for the balancing means, the fluid pressure which isapplied to the member being a resultant of the high pressure, pipepressure and spring loading.

7. The combination of claim 4 including means establishing a fluidpressure for application to the member which is a control loadingpressure compensated for variations in pipe pressure.

ERVIN G. BAILEY. PAUL S. DICKEY. JACK F. SHANNON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the flle ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,586,923 Townsend June 1, 19261,873,138 Mitchell Aug. 23, 1932 1,918,810 Hinderliter July 18, 19332,038,140 Stone Apr. 21, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date873,587 France Mar. 30, 1942

